Possibility: New Addition
by Mystic83
Summary: What if Boomer knew something about the Farms that she wasn’t telling? What if she convinced the Resistance that staying on Caprica was foolish? KaraLee
1. Part One

This will be a series of stand-alone stories which deal with the choices that the characters on Battlestar Galactica have made throughout the first half of the second season (I'll be posting in as much of the order of the season as I can). I want to explore what would have happened/changed if things had gone differently. Some of the stories will be angst, some will be shippy, some will be funny. There will be different pairings throughout. Don't feel like you have to check out each one to understand the others. All I ask is that if it intrigues you, then give it a try. Hope you enjoy reading the stories as much as I enjoyed writing them!

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**_There are pivotal moments in one's life where if you take the wrong path everything may change. Those changes may be for the good or for the bad. The possibilities are endless.

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_**

Sam Anders sat at the mess tables in the heart of Galactica, looking around at all the pilots and crew. This place was nothing like Kara described to him back on Caprica. Things had sounded so dire out here in the middle of space, and yet the mess hall was filled with laughter. People seemed happy to be alive, and the concern that the Cylons might suddenly show up barely even registered.

When that Cylon Kara and Helo called Sharon insisted that they fit the whole resistance movement onto the Heavy Raider she had procured and another one she promised she could get, Anders did not want to go. He figured that the life his men were living on Caprica was probably a lot better than aimlessly wandering the skies in search for some distant planet that probably didn't even exist. At least on Caprica, there were goals to set and work towards.

Looking up from the plate of mush in front of him, he realized Kara had been right to insist he listen to Sharon, even if the Cylon never explained her reasoning to want them to leave. This place was the only safe haven left in the world.

Anders checked his watch quickly. He had a few appointments to keep with the doctor down in sickbay, the one that insisted upon smoking all the time. Even with all the annoying appointments and the general feeling of not belonging, this ailing ship was starting to feel more like home than anything he had ever had.

President Roslin had given him and his men access to one of Galactica's empty bunkrooms until they could find their place in the Fleet. She wanted them to get a feel for what the remnants of humanity did and told them they were free to stay on Galactica permanently if they saw fit. Gods know there's enough room. It appeared the Battlestar had been running on a skeleton crew when the Cylons attacked. It had neither the equipments nor the personnel to run at full steam. Anders figured that was why a few of his old teammates had begun talking about training to be pilots. It was the most exciting job left in the world after all.

A loud crash echoed through the bunkroom. Anders looked up to see his girlfriend and Galactica's CAG in the middle of a water fight. He watched in awe as Kara splashed a glass of water into Lee Adama's face, earning herself some choice words. She squealed and started running around the tables as Lee pursued her.

Anders glared. It was hard getting used to how Kara acted when she was on home turf. She wasn't the same broken woman he had fallen in love with on Caprica. Not to say he still didn't love her. Gods, if anything, he loved her more now that he's seen her truly happy. It was just there are aspects of her life he didn't expect to find.

Specifically Lee Adama.

"They have a history."

The quiet voice that came from down the table startled Anders. He looked up to see one of the CIC crew smiling at him. "So everyone keeps telling me," Anders muttered, pushing the food around on his plate.

After a moment, the petite woman picked up her tray and slid down into the seat next to him. "Petty Officer Anastasia Dualla, but you can call me Dee."

"Samuel Anders."

"I know," she said with a laugh. "You and your crew are the talk of the ship."

"Nice to know," Anders said shortly, returning to the task of forcing this inedible mush into his body.

"Mostly it's just you, though," Dee continued. "Everyone finds it so interesting that Starbuck managed to pick up a boyfriend on a war-torn planet, especially since everyone was so fraking sure she was already taken."

Anders' eyes darted up to look at Dee before shifting to watch his girlfriend pounding hard on the arms of Apollo as he dragged her towards the chow line. "What's the supposed to mean, Dee?" he asked, challenging Dee to say the words they both already knew.

"Nothing. There are just a lot of things about Starbuck that no one knows. She's not very free with information, you know?"

Anders nodded. He knew exactly what Dee was talking about. Being on Galactica had proved to him just how much he still didn't know about Kara. She had never mentioned the fact that the Commander of the Colonial Fleet was practically her father and that most of the pilots considered her some kind of goddess of the sky.

"I think you should do it."

Anders snapped back to attention. Dee was still talking to him. "I'm sorry. What should I do?"

"There's an empty gym on Deck 7. I thought maybe you and your men could fix up some sort of pyramid court for us. Everyone on Galactica has been dying to play ball, but it seems like no one has the time to remember the regulation measurements."

"And you think my crew has the time to do it?"

"I just figured it might be something to do while you figure out your place here," Dee said, shrugging her shoulders. Anders immediately felt bad. The Petty Officer had just been trying to make him feel comfortable, and he had snapped at her.

"I think it's a fraking great idea," Kara whispered as she came up behind Anders and sat down in his lap.

"Gods, Kara. You're fraking soaked!" Anders yelled.

"Sorry. Lee and I got into an argument about the CAP rotations."

"Do your disagreements usually end in water fights?"

"No, they usually end with one of them in sickbay," Dee snorted. She sobered up when Kara sent her a sharp look.

"So, I was thinking," Kara started, "my maintenance shift ends at 1500, and I have some free time after that…"

"I'll be around," Anders said with a smile.

Kara jumped to her feet. "Good." She turned to Dee. "Thanks for keeping him company, Dee. Sometimes I worry that if I leave him alone too long, the women of Galactica might start devouring the new meat."

Dee shook her head and laughed as Kara gave a final wave and walked away from the mess table. "She used to say the same thing about Apollo when he first got to the ship." Her eyes went wide as she realized what she had said. She turned to see Anders glaring at where the water-soaked CAG sat talking to his pilots. Dee stood up from the table and grabbed her tray. "I need to be getting back to the CIC."

Anders didn't respond. He just kept staring.

It hadn't been like this when they first came back to the Fleet. Apollo had been in jail along with the President, but it seemed everything was forgive and forget now that the prodigal daughter had come back. That return to normalcy for the Fleet killed the last bit of normalcy Anders' had in his own life. He knew it, and the Fleet knew it.

"Frak," Dee muttered under her breath, glancing at Anders one last time as she worked her way through the room. She had meant to make Anders feel a little more comfortable. She hadn't meant to point out how the whole ship thought he was Kara's temporary stand-in for Lee. "Frak."


	2. Part Two

Anders walked through the open hatchway to the hangar bay. Kara had told him she would be off shift about an hour ago, and he had sat around his quarters waiting for her to show up. A man could only wait so long, though.

He watched the flutter of activity all around him. Something was going on. He grabbed the arm of the nearest Specialist. "What's happening?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary, Anders," the young girl said with a smile. "The CAP ran into a little trouble and a couple Vipers and a Raptor got dinged up. We're trying to get them fixed up to go out again later today."

"So no boom-boom, end-of-the-world type stuff?"

The girl let out a small laugh. "No, nothing like that."

Anders smiled and started looking for Kara again. If those ships had to be fixed, she was probably under one of them right now. The time tended to get away from her when she was given a job. That was only one of about a thousand things he had learned about the woman he loved since he came to this place.

"She's over there," the young specialist said, pointing to one of the downed Vipers.

Anders thanked her and was about to make his way over to where Kara lay under the ship when he saw Apollo hop down from his seat in the cockpit. Obviously Kara wasn't alone in repairing the ship.

Apollo crouched down and yelled something to Kara. Anders watched as she slid out from underneath the Viper, her whole body shaking with laughter. She sat up and said something back to Apollo, which made him smile and reach out to brush a stray piece of hair back behind her ear. It took all of Anders strength not to run over and punch Apollo when he saw the CAG's hand linger briefly on his girlfriend's cheek.

Anders watched the two pilots return to their work after their small interlude and figured that Kara wouldn't be getting off shift anytime soon. He tried to force the memory of the way she had been smiling out of his head as he turned to leave the hangar. It hurt to know that she had never smiled that way for him.

She would, though. Even if it meant he had to have a rather awkward conversation with Lee Adama, Anders would make sure he had the opportunity to make Kara smile for him alone.


	3. Part Three

Lee was trying his best to focus on the paperwork in front of him and not on how bad he wanted a fraking shower. He had given up his off shift in order to help Kara and the Chief get those ships back in the air. He should have hitting the head and then hitting his bunk. Instead, he decided to get himself covered from head to toe in engine grease. And now that the broken Raptor and one of the Vipers were out of commission for the next few days, there were flight schedules to fix.

He had just switched Helo to a double-CAP since he would already be out in his Raptor during that time when there was a brisk knock on the door to his office. "Hatch is unlocked," Lee yelled without looking up from the papers.

He heard the door slid open and then shut again, but whomever it was didn't speak. Lee looked up in order to let them know he had things to do and was surprised to see it was Anders standing in front of his desk. "What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to talk to you about Kara."

Lee felt himself tense up as concern for his friend washed over him. "Is something wrong?"

"Not yet, but I think there might be," Anders said. He took a seat in one of the chairs by Lee's desk.

"Please," Lee said, sending him a slightly cocky grin. "Enlighten me."

"She loves me, Captain Adama."

"I have no doubt about that. So what's the problem?"

"I love her."

Lee rolled his eyes. "If the next words out of your mouth are to tell me to keep my hands off of her, I will not be responsible for my actions."

"Listen," Anders said, leaning forward in his chair. "I'm not an idiot. I've seen the way you flirt with her and come up with ways to touch her. I've been that guy before. Hell, I challenged her to a round of pyramid back on Caprica just to have a few minutes alone with her. All I want to point out to you is life is not the same as when Kara left you. She brought me and my men back to the Fleet, and you're just going to have to deal with the changes that brings."

Lee set down his pen and leaned back in his chair. "I understand what you're getting at, but I can't just turn whatever Kara and I have off like a light switch. We have a history."

"Everyone keeps fraking telling me that," Anders screamed. "I don't give a frak if you have a history! She's mine."

Lee stared at the suddenly possessive man before him for a few moments before replying. "You obviously don't know the history if you think a claim of ownership is all it takes to make me back off." He shook his head. "Maybe I'm not the one you need to be having this conversation with. Maybe it's Kara you need to talk to."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Has she told you about Zak?"

"Her fiancé that died? Yeah, she told me about him on the flight back to the Fleet."

"How much has she told you?"

"That he was the son of some Battlestar commander who couldn't hack it in the air."

Lee nodded slowly. "There's more to it than that, but I'm sure she didn't want to spring it all on you at once. I'm not bringing this up to thumb your nose in the fact that I know things that you don't know. Kara would have told you when she felt ready."

"Then why are you telling me?"

"Because a lot of the history she shares with me is wrapped up in Zak. No one really knows that."

"Well, then please enlighten _me_," Anders requested, twisting Lee's previous words back on him.

The words grated on Lee "Fine. I'll enlighten you about the whole situation if you have the time."

"I'm all ears."

"Imagine you're me. You've had this perfect vision of a woman in your head since you started liking girls. This warrior woman with a hard exterior who actually feels more than you could possibly imagine, a woman so beautiful seeing her takes your breath away. She's someone you would do anything to spend just one second more in her presence. She's in your every thought. Seeing her for the first time, you know she's the only one you've ever going to want." Lee bit his lip and let out a self-mocking laugh. "Imagine one day you finally meet this vision of a woman and find out she's the one person you can't have."

"I assume we're talking about Kara," Anders said with clenched teeth.

"Yeah, I'm talking about Kara. I'm also talking about my brother, Zak, the man she loved." Lee let Anders take in the information before continuing, "I met Kara when Zak introduced her to me as the woman he was going to marry. I loved my brother, so I never said a thing. I threw myself into my piloting and tried to forget about her. It wasn't as effective as I would have liked."

Anders felt himself growing impatient. He shifted in his seat. "I'm just going to ask you this straight out. Are you still in love with Kara?"

"Absolutely," Lee replied without apology. "I love her more today than I did all those years ago. I've been lying about that for years, and I'm tired of letting it torture me."

Anders' eyebrows raised in surprise. "Torture you? That's an odd phrase to use."

"Do you know what it's like to absolutely adore someone, knowing that you're completely alone in those feelings? Or how about wanting someone so bad that it's in every breath you take and every word you say? To love someone even if all it does is cause you pain? The night of Zak's funeral, I sat in the cemetery on the fresh dirt of my own brother's grave and held her as she broke down. For years, I've had to check myself like that. I had to hold her close, knowing I felt the way I did and knowing that there was no way I could ask her to feel the same."

"Sounds painful."

Lee laughed. "Yeah, pretty much. Listen, I know you want me to back off, but I can't. It's not like I'm actively pursuing Kara. I'm just not changing the way I acted before you came into the picture. I'm going to keep hoping that one day she catches the way I look at her and realizes what I've been trying to tell her. That maybe if I'm patient enough to tolerate the pain, she'll stop giving me the mixed signals we usually communicate in."

"I don't get it. Why would you want to put yourself through that?"

"It's Kara. She's the woman who has been haunting my dreams every single night since well before the world ended. If you really knew her, you would understand. There is no one else quite like her."

"She's still mine, though."

"I know that. Which is why I'm not going to tell her that I love her. Kara means everything to me. If you make her happy, then I'm happy." Lee stood up and motioned towards the door. "I'm not going to stand in your way, Anders, but I'm not going to move out of it either. I am a part of Kara's life just as much as she is a part of mine. I will never let that change."

Anders looked so shell-shocked from the information overload that Lee wanted to laugh. "Listen. I don't know you well enough to say that I trust you with Kara, but _she_ trusts you. For now, that's enough." Lee sighed and sat back down. "I trust that was everything you wanted to hear."

"And then some," Anders said as he got to his feet. "I'm really not sure what to say to you now."

Lee didn't look up from his paperwork when he answered, "You don't have to say anything. Just go find Kara. She's off shift now. I'm sure she's looking for you."

Anders stared at Lee in silence for a few more seconds before stepping out of the hatchway into the corridor. That conversation had not turned out like he thought it would, and now he was even more confused.


	4. Part Four

Anders found Kara in the officer's bunkroom, a towel wrapped firmly around her body. Obviously she had gotten just as dirty as Apollo while fixing those ships, but at least _she_ had found time to hit the head.

Kara paused in rubbing a towel through her wet hair to smile at him as he stopped in front of her. "Hey, good-looking."

"Hi," Anders whispered, pulling her in close. "I missed you earlier."

"Big crisis," she laughed. "You know how it goes."

"Actually, no, I really don't. But it seems I'm learning."

"So," Kara started, "where have you been? I was about to report you abducted by Cylon infiltrators."

Anders chuckled. "You had no reason to worry. I was just talking to your friend, Apollo."

Kara's eyes lit up in confusion. What reason would Anders have to talk to Lee? The two hadn't said one word to one another since she had showed up on Galactica with the resistance in tow. In fact, the two men in question had been actively avoiding one another for the past few weeks.

Instead of asking Anders his reasoning for the impromptu visit, Kara pulled herself out of his arms and slipped underwear on underneath towel. "I'm sorry about the extra long shift, Sam," she said, throwing the towel to the floor. She turned to give him a smile, knowing the fact that she was only half-clothed would make him forgive her almost immediately.

"All's forgiven," he whispered as he pushed past her to sit on her bunk.

Kara gave him a small nod and reached into her open locker to grab two tanks. Pulling them over her head, she glanced back at Anders to see him lost in thought. "What's on your mind?" she asked.

Anders watched her push her hair out of her eyes and wondered why he had never noticed its bad habit of always falling in her face. "I think I finally understand why you respect Lee Adama so much."

"I never said anything about respect," Kara said, stepping close to her bunk.

"You never had to. It was implied by the fact that you stay by his side in combat. I've watched you in the air with him."

Kara found her reaction to his words odd. She immediately took his words as an invasion of privacy, and it made her sick to her stomach. Then the feelings of guilt kicked in. Why should she consider flying with Lee such a personal, private affair? Anyone in the Fleet could see them in the air together. A tiny voice in the back of her head whispered that maybe it was the fact that no one talked about it that made Anders comment so unwelcome. The whole Fleet knew what she had with Lee in the air was something special. They flew like they were one.

"He's very good at what he does," Anders continued. "Just like you."

"Lee has a determination that I can't even dream of. He sees something he wants, and you can bet your ass he'll get it. For as long as I've know him, it's been that way."

"Have you listened to the way you talk about him, Kara? You hold him up on a pedestal."

"He is the Fleet's golden boy," she laughed. "Now, since we've established that I do indeed respect Apollo, why don't you tell me a little more about why you respect him?"

"I went to see him in his office a little bit ago with a problem I thought might need addressing. He was upfront with me even when it meant telling me things that he didn't want to say and I didn't want to hear."

"That's my Lee, always doing the right thing even if it hurts."

Anders gave her a funny look. "_Your_ Lee?"

Kara's face broke out in a slight blush. "I didn't mean it like that. It's just what with me being his wingman and having known him so long, a lot of times it feels like I'm the only one who understands him on this ship."

"He seems to have just as good of a grasp on who you are," Anders pointed out.

Kara looked at him in confusion. "You talked about me?"

"Quite a bit."

Anders watched as Kara turned back to her locker and began to search for something. After a few quiet seconds, she tentatively asked, "What did he have to say?"

The fact that she wanted to know what Lee said and not what Anders himself thought did not slip past his notice. "He told me a little about meeting you through his brother."

"I was going to tell you about that," Kara insisted, still digging through her locker. "I just didn't want to lay my whole tale of woe on you before we got back home."

"That's what Apollo said."

"What else did Apollo say?"

Anders watched her find whatever she was looking for and stand up. His eyes followed hers to the picture taped up in her locker. He had never noticed it before. Standing up to get a closer look, it was immediately apparent how many times Kara had held this photo in her hand. It was worn around the edges and had a nasty fold towards the right side. Anders wasn't sure who the man holding Kara in his arms was, but he definitely recognized the man standing beside them. Everyone was right when they said Kara and Lee had a history. The proof was staring him right in the face.

Kara was staring so intently at the photo now that Anders figured she wasn't waiting for an answer to her question. For some odd reason, even though he knew it was a mistake, he still felt like he should answer her. Apollo had been very upfront with his decision to not come between Anders and Kara and his desire to see Kara happy. She deserved to know that she had a friend who cared for her that much.

"He told me he loves you, Kara," Anders said, meeting her eyes in the mirror.

"I love him, too." Her eyes fell down to the picture again. "I mean, we were almost family once."

Anders grabbed her by the arms and spun her around. "No, Kara. He told me that he _loves_ you."

Her face went pale as the weight of his words sunk in, and he could see her mind working through the confusion. When the sides of her mouth crept up in the beginnings of a smile he knew she was trying desperately to hold back, he realized that he had been fooling himself. There was no way he could compete with Lee Adama, golden boy of the Colonial Fleet, when it came to this one special woman.

Kara's face suddenly lit up with concern as he tore his eyes to the ground and took a few steps back. Letting out a deep sigh, he looked up at her. "I had a feeling it was like that," he said sadly.

"No, it's not like that, Sam," Kara said, shaking her head.

He held up his hands to stop her before she kept lying in order to make him feel better. "A few days ago, I was offered a job on Cloud 9. They want to renovate a part of the garden into a pyramid court and see if maybe a few teams can be put together. I wasn't sure at first, but I think it might be best if I took the offer."

"But that would mean I would hardly ever see you," Kara said quietly, dropping her gaze to the floor.

Anders reached out to push a stray lock of hair behind her ear and let his hand linger on her cheek. "That's the idea. I don't think I can take watching the two of you together in the sky, knowing I'm the only reason you're apart on the ground."

"Sam…"

"Kara, from what little you've told me and what I've gleamed from the Fleet, you have had an extremely tough life. I think it's time you stopped putting others before you. Do what makes you happy."

Kara looked up at him. "I don't even understand what that means."

Anders let out a small laugh. Of course she would have no idea what he was talking about. This was a woman who had never been given the freedom to be happy for most of her life. He leaned in close and kissed her forehead lightly. "Go to him. Let him know how you feel."

Kara stared in wonder as Anders turned and left her alone in the bunkroom. Her mind was racing to figure out what had just happened. Anders had come into the bunkroom, and she figured the next move would be their normal desperate search for a secluded corner or empty equipment locker. She hadn't thought this would be the last time she saw him on Galactica.

She couldn't lie to herself, though. The idea that Lee loved her had tugged at something deep inside of her she had long thought dead. Still, it hurt that Anders had had to be the one to point it out.

The hatch slid open, pulling her away from her thoughts. Racetrack stepped into the bunkroom and gave Kara a funny look. "You might want to put pants on sometime before your next shift," she suggested.

Kara realized that Racetrack was right. She had never finished getting dressed. Oh gods. She had just broken up with her boyfriend while being half-naked. Reality set in. Her best friend loves her, her boyfriend set her free, she still can't decide what her next move is, and she's not wearing pants.

"What is with you?" Racetrack asked after Kara still didn't move.

"Lee loves me," she said absentmindedly.

"Of course he does," Racetrack replied, not even looking Kara's way.

"No. I mean, Lee _loves_ me."

Racetrack rolled her eyes. It was obvious Starbuck was talking more to herself than anyone, but it seemed she might still need a small push in the right direction. Racetrack walked over to Kara's locker, grabbed a pair of sweatpants off the shelf, and shoved them into Kara's chest. "Pants. On. Then go find him."

A big smile came across Kara's face as she took the pants from Racetrack. "Good idea."

Racetrack rolled her eyes as Kara grabbed her boots and a zip sweatshirt to put on in addition to the sweatpants. It was ridiculous that it had taken Starbuck this long to realize the CAG was enamored with her. The woman might be the best shot in the Fleet, but when it came to anything else, she was blind as a bat.


	5. Part Five

Lee swore to himself as he made his way back to his office. He had finished the schedule a little earlier than he had expected, giving him a moment to take that much needed shower. About halfway through it, he remembered he had forgotten to hand the updated schedule off to one of the CIC officers so the XO could approved it. He had barely dried off before he threw clothes on, and he could still feel a few stray beads of water dripping down his neck.

He shut the hatch of his office, but that was as far as he made it. He wasn't alone. "What the frak are you doing, Kara?" he asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer. She was sitting behind his desk with her feet kicked up.

"Anders told me he was taking a position on Cloud 9 about an hour after you two had a little heart to heart. I was wondering if you knew anything about that."

Kara watched as Lee's face filled with confusion. "I didn't say anything to him."

"He said you talked about me." She kicked her feet down off the desk and stood up, slowly moving to stand in front of him. "Now what would you two have been saying?"

"He wanted to know about the history everyone kept saying was between us," Lee answered.

Kara stared at him for a second, surprised to realize that he was telling the truth. Anders must have gotten frustrated with the two of them. That had to be how their whole conversation started. "Yeah, he told me that. I apologized for not telling him everything about Zak outright."

"You had a right to wait. I mean, it's kind of intimidating. Anders shows up in a new place to find his girlfriend could have been the daughter of the Fleet's commander."

"I doubt your conversation centered around the Old Man," Kara said, inching close enough that she could smell the soap he had used. It was the same stuff the rest of the pilots used, but somehow it always smelled different on him. "From what I heard, it was mostly talking about how loved I am."

She watched Lee go pale and realized that Anders had been telling her the truth. Lee had actually told Anders he loved her. "Loved by Anders, I mean."

She saw Lee's face drop and wondered if maybe he had been happy that she might know how he felt. The silence filled between them as they both searched for their next words. Kara knew Lee expected her to keep on teasing him, but right now, it really wasn't in her. Teasing Lee, something she usually had so much fun doing, would be easy if only she wasn't so fraking nervous.

"Anders cares about you a lot," Lee said. "I wasn't sure about him at first, you know."

"He loves me enough to want me to be happy. It's something I can admire in a man."

Lee felt his jaw clenched. It figured that something he had struggled so hard to do would end up making the other man look good.

"I admire it even more when the man doesn't tell me he wants me to be happy, when he just makes sure that I am." Kara reached her hands out to rest on his chest before turning her eyes up to look into his. "You know, I could really love a man like that, Lee."

Lee didn't know what to say. He was pretty sure she was implying that she loved him, but with Kara, things were never that cut and dry. She wasn't the type of woman who would just take something if she wanted it, especially at the expense of others. If Kara loved him, she would have had to send Anders packing, and Lee knew Kara would never hurt the resistance leader like that. No, she was definitely not talking about him.

He pulled away from her touch to lean against his desk. "So I assume Anders is going to be a part of a lot of shuttle runs from Cloud 9 to Galactica from now on?"

"No. I don't think he'll be coming back to Galactica any time soon."

"I don't understand," he said, shifting back to sit on the desk. "It sounded like things were finally going good for you, so why would Anders transfer to another ship where he couldn't see you when it would be so easy to stay on Galactica?"

"Because he saw what made me happy," Kara answered honestly. She walked over to take a seat next to him on the desk. "You know, we never really talked about what happened on Colonial Day."

"What does that have to do with Anders?"

"Everything," she admitted. Her hand reached out to rest on top of his on the desk. "You know, I spent that whole night waiting for you to show up so you could see my dress. All I wanted was to see if I could put that fraking annoying smile on your face."

"Fraking annoying?" he said, feigning offense.

"In a way that makes you too damn cute," she said, smiling at him brightly.

"Too damn cute?"

"Would you stop rephrasing everything I say with a question?" she said, smacking him on the shoulder.

"Sorry," he whispered, turning the hand on the desk to intertwine his fingers with hers.

"I'll forgive you if you promise to be honest with me." When he gave a small nod, she hopped off the desk and moved to stand in between his legs, letting their joined hands rest on the top of his thigh. The two pilots stared at each other for a moment, and Kara could feel the temperature begin to rise inside of her. His eyes were burning right through her. "A man looks at a woman the way you're looking at me, Lee, and the woman starts getting ideas."

"Ideas?"

Kara smirked. "I thought you said you were going to stop doing that."

"I'll stop after this one. Ideas?"

She nodded. "I could play coy with you or tease you like I normally do, but I'm tired of it, Lee. I thought I was happy being with Anders because it was the first time I've smiled in so fraking long. I brought him back to the Fleet, and it seemed like my life just kind of clicked into place." She ran her hands up his chest to rest around his neck and sighed. "It took me this long to realize that my happiness had absolutely nothing to do with Sam and everything to do with you."

"Me?"

She glared at his question. "You're making this hard for me to say."

"We always seem to have trouble saying things to one another," Lee pointed out.

Kara stared at him a moment before shrugging. "Then, I guess I'm going have to do this without words."

Lee barely had time to breathe before she had leaned forward to pull him into a kiss. Her lips were feather light against his, and he knew it was taking all the courage she had to do this. Kara had always been such a frail little girl under her tough warrior exterior. He let his hands come up to wrap themselves around her waist and pull her further in. When she had settled in against him, he moved his hands up her body. When they brushed along the sides of her breasts, she opened her mouth in a small gasp. He took full advantage and deepened the kiss.

Lee could feel the shift come over her as she realized he wasn't fighting her in any way. Her hands grabbed the bottom of his tanks and, with more force than he thought she had in her, ripped them off of his body. They fell to the floor before he could even grasp what she had done. He choked on the words he had been about to say as her lips came down to crush against him again. Distracted, he didn't feel her hands move back up to his chest until she had pushed him down. She moved to straddle his body on the desk, and a little voice in the back of his head wondered if he should have taken the time to lock the hatch.

As Kara's hands traveled down his body and rested on the zipper of his pants, reality hit him hard. "Stop," he whispered against her lips. "You need to stop this, Kara."

Kara sat up and stared at him in disbelief. After all that, he was still going to push her away?

"We can't be doing this. I promised Anders."

"Promised Anders what?" she asked.

Lee tried to think of what he could tell her while still keeping his promise to Anders, but thinking was becoming increasingly hard. She was still straddling him on top of his office desk, after all. No amount of willpower would help him forget that little fact. "I told Anders that I wouldn't stand in the way of your happiness."

"Who said you're standing in the way?"

Lee chuckled as she put her hands on her hip and gave him a rather irritated look. "Look at us, Kara," he laughed. "I think Anders might have a problem with me taking advantage of his girlfriend."

"I want to be really clear about something, Lee. I am the one taking advantage of you."

He was about to tell her that from his perspective it didn't matter who was taking advantage of who, but she had leaned down to nip lightly at his collarbone. When the nipping started involving her tongue, all thought left his head.

Kara slowly crept her way up to his lips again and smiled as he let out a soft moan against her lips. The words came out before she could think twice. "I love you, Lee."

Lee's eyes shot open, and all kissing and touching ended. "What did you just say?"

"That's what this was all about," she said with a smile. "I wanted to let you know that you weren't alone in the love department."

"I must be dreaming," Lee declared.

"Do you often dream of me straddling you on top of your desk?" she asked. When Lee just raised his eyebrows at her and nodded, she chuckled.

"I love that smile," Lee said, reaching up to trace her lips with his fingertips. "I don't get to see it very often."

"Is it only my smile you love?" Kara asked.

"No. I pretty much love all of you."

"It seems like everyone on this ship knew that you loved me except for me."

Lee reached up to push her hair out of her face and smiled. "That's because everyone else is a lot smarter than you."

Kara punched him hard in the arm, causing him to wince in pain even as he began to laugh. She felt his arms pull her down against him and sighed as he began to kiss where the side of her neck met her chin. She could feel herself shiver against his hands as they worked their way up and down her back. This time when her hands went down to his pants, he didn't push her away.

Lee was about to pull her tanks up off her body when the hatch door creaked open. They both froze as the XO entered the CAG's office.

"Sorry to disturb you two," Tigh said gruffly. "But your father wants that flight schedule now."

Lee grabbed on to Kara and lifted them up on one side. He grabbed for the papers underneath his body and held them out to Tigh. "Here you go, sir."

Tigh took them out of Lee's hand. "You two might want to lock the hatch next time you decide to defy military policy." Kara nodded and gave him a stiff salute, earning herself a glare. "By the way, Starbuck, you're wanted in the hangar bay."

Kara held in her groan until the hatch door banged shut.

"Come on," Lee said, sitting up so she could slid to the floor. "I'm sure the Chief could use your help getting that downed Viper back into the air."

Kara nodded and leaned down to pick Lee's tanks up off the floor. Tossing them his way, she asked, "What are you up to for the next few hours?"

"I have to fly the midnight CAP, but until then, I've got some downtime. Why do you ask?" Kara smiled at him innocently as she moved to open the hatch. "Kara…" Lee said tentatively. He never knew what she was thinking.

"Have you ever fraked underneath a Viper?" She grinned at him wickedly before slipping out into the hall.

Lee stared around at the mess they had made of his office and suddenly felt the urge to laugh. For once, he didn't care that his life had turned itself upside down yet again. He was actually starting to like the feelings living in chaos brought him. Getting to his feet, Lee tried to figure out if Kara had been serious.

In the end, it didn't matter. He was willing to give it a shot either way.

As Lee made his way down to the hangar bay, he silently thanked the gods for answering the hope he had had for years. Kara was finally free to be his.


End file.
